I learned to create a podcast using Garageband two years ago at a professional development workshop hosted by Apple, Looking Ahead - Teachers and IT, but had never had the opportunity to integrate this into my math lessons. Now that I was teaching all the core subjects, I had many ideas for integrating this technology. I needed refreshed on the whole process so I sought out assistance from the technology support teacher. We sat down one day after school and she walked me through the basic podcasting features of Garageband. I learned how to size and insert pictures from Word and Google image . At the end of the session I had exported my first podcast into iTunes for publication.
This past year my students created their first podcasts. I planned to use podcasting during the robotics project as a digital diary of their accomplishments with their team. Therefore, I wanted the students to learn the process of podcasting in an earlier project. In previous years the fourth graders had always presented a short theatrical presentation of a memorized poem at a poetry pageant to which parents were invited. This presentation was the concluding piece to a five week poetry unit.
One of the main goals of the pageant was to provide experience in oral speaking. I revised the poetry unit, and decided to switch things up a bit. In place of the poetry pageant, which many parents had difficulty attending during the school day, the students each created their own poetry podcast. To support the communication goal of an oral presentation, each student shared the memorized poems with the class and later recited the memorized poem to record the podcast audio. The final podcasts were published in my private class collaboration wiki, allowing family and friends to listen and view the final piece at their leisure.
As the study of the regions and the robotics curriculum fell into place I realized my initial plans for podcasting did not exactly meet the needs of the content. Instead, I included a podcast as an option in one of the mini-projects that made up the whole unit. Each student was asked to create an advertisement for their team's road trip through their assigned U.S. region. The advertisement could be one of the following: an informative postcard, a billboard, a detailed brochure, or a radio jingle.
The final integration of podcasting occurred at the conclusion of the regions and robotics unit. The students each reflected on the question "Would I live here?" after studying a specific region of the United States for six intense weeks. Their reflections served as a verbal assessment, as they supported their answer with factual information learned throughout the project.
REFLECTION
It was exciting to hear and see the students work come alive during each podcast project. Although a typical podcast is simply a series of audio clips, I incorporated the use of pictures into the poetry podcasts. I allowed the students to utilize props during the class presentation as an outlet of creativity and to provide guidance in remembering the poem. The students were thrilled when I demonstrated to them how they could align pictures along with their audio to support what the poem was saying.
I was amazed at the interpretations that arose from allowing my students to choose and insert images they felt best portrayed the words of each author. I realized that this integration of technology permitted students who were not naturally artistic to display creativity without having to worry if they were a good artist. The students had millions of images to choose from to express themselves and interpret the words.
When I assigned the advertisement for the regional road trip, I included the radio jingle as an option at the last minute to support the different learning styles of my class. I had learned throughout the year that this class loved to sing! The final products for the students who created jingles were outstanding and creative, as well as full of fun facts to support the advertising goal. I definitely plan to keep the jingle as an option of the project for incoming classes.
The final podcast experience this year served as a reflection for the students as well as a short individual assessment. I guided the students in a brainstorming activity to prepare a short script of reflection on whether or not they would live in the region they had studied over the past six weeks. The script even provided a quick assessment of summarizing skills. Each student recorded their reflection and came back to insert pictures to support the people and places highlighted in the audio. The final podcasts were uploaded into the class wiki and were a hit with family and friends at the evening Regions and Robotics Exhibition.
This past year my students created their first podcasts. I planned to use podcasting during the robotics project as a digital diary of their accomplishments with their team. Therefore, I wanted the students to learn the process of podcasting in an earlier project. In previous years the fourth graders had always presented a short theatrical presentation of a memorized poem at a poetry pageant to which parents were invited. This presentation was the concluding piece to a five week poetry unit.
One of the main goals of the pageant was to provide experience in oral speaking. I revised the poetry unit, and decided to switch things up a bit. In place of the poetry pageant, which many parents had difficulty attending during the school day, the students each created their own poetry podcast. To support the communication goal of an oral presentation, each student shared the memorized poems with the class and later recited the memorized poem to record the podcast audio. The final podcasts were published in my private class collaboration wiki, allowing family and friends to listen and view the final piece at their leisure.
As the study of the regions and the robotics curriculum fell into place I realized my initial plans for podcasting did not exactly meet the needs of the content. Instead, I included a podcast as an option in one of the mini-projects that made up the whole unit. Each student was asked to create an advertisement for their team's road trip through their assigned U.S. region. The advertisement could be one of the following: an informative postcard, a billboard, a detailed brochure, or a radio jingle.
The final integration of podcasting occurred at the conclusion of the regions and robotics unit. The students each reflected on the question "Would I live here?" after studying a specific region of the United States for six intense weeks. Their reflections served as a verbal assessment, as they supported their answer with factual information learned throughout the project.
REFLECTION
It was exciting to hear and see the students work come alive during each podcast project. Although a typical podcast is simply a series of audio clips, I incorporated the use of pictures into the poetry podcasts. I allowed the students to utilize props during the class presentation as an outlet of creativity and to provide guidance in remembering the poem. The students were thrilled when I demonstrated to them how they could align pictures along with their audio to support what the poem was saying.
I was amazed at the interpretations that arose from allowing my students to choose and insert images they felt best portrayed the words of each author. I realized that this integration of technology permitted students who were not naturally artistic to display creativity without having to worry if they were a good artist. The students had millions of images to choose from to express themselves and interpret the words.
When I assigned the advertisement for the regional road trip, I included the radio jingle as an option at the last minute to support the different learning styles of my class. I had learned throughout the year that this class loved to sing! The final products for the students who created jingles were outstanding and creative, as well as full of fun facts to support the advertising goal. I definitely plan to keep the jingle as an option of the project for incoming classes.
The final podcast experience this year served as a reflection for the students as well as a short individual assessment. I guided the students in a brainstorming activity to prepare a short script of reflection on whether or not they would live in the region they had studied over the past six weeks. The script even provided a quick assessment of summarizing skills. Each student recorded their reflection and came back to insert pictures to support the people and places highlighted in the audio. The final podcasts were uploaded into the class wiki and were a hit with family and friends at the evening Regions and Robotics Exhibition.